On Sunday August 16th, a new Miss America was crowned, 24 year-old Nina Davuluri from Syracuse, NY. Davuluri was born in New York, but to Indian immigrant parents, making history as the first Indian-American winner of the pageant. Davuluri plans to follow in her father’s footsteps and become a doctor. And of course, sadly she immediately became the target of vicious racist tweets as ignorant Twitter-users erroneously called her a foreigner, and in many cases Middle Eastern and a “terrorist.”

But negativity aside, there’s one facet to this all-American girl that hasn’t been widely reported: she’s a geek!

In a promotional video, she professed that she was “kind of a nerd.” She exclaimed “I love ‘Star Wars,’ ‘Star Trek,’ and anything sci-fi.”

Is this truly proof that Geek Culture has taken over the world? And in case you were worried that she might be a “fake geek girl”, (as some consider of EVERY female sci-fi fan), check out this cosplay pic that’s surfaced:

Photo courtesy of Original Spin

First of all, she’s dressed as a Jedi, not Slave Leia. She’s expressing her love of the franchise, not titillation. Second, that’s one of those expensive light up Lightsabres, not a cheap extending plastic one. And, third life-size R2-D2?! Find me a fake geek that owns one of those!

Now granted, the majority of nerds don’t give a hoot about beauty pageants, so it’s not surprising that this hasn’t been widely covered. Does it make you more interested in her, now that you know she’s “one of us?”

Sadly, I understand that fandom isn’t immune to racism and sexism. There are always going to be bad apples. But what makes fandom so magical, is the abundance of love and inclusion. That’s the main reason that conventions exist, for that camaraderie and sharing of mutual love for the subject matter.

Would you like to attend Comic-Con with Miss America? Or geek out over a ‘Star Wars’ or ‘Star Trek’ marathon? Comment below!